Wednesday, November 12

Realization

Hey, guess what? They close the courthouses on national holidays too!!! Now, yes, I knew this, but it didn't even cross my mind yesterday when I sped down to Nebraska City, flew up to the courthouse 5 minutes before they were supposed to close (I don't fly anywhere), and then completely deflated when I read the sign that they were closed. Yeah. I'm an airhead.

So, I titled this post, "Realization" because I came to a realization. Clever, huh? I actually have been coming to this realization for awhile now but it hit me this morning that it's not going away. I love to craft...whatever it is, I love doing it. I really love scrapbooking, but have no time. I love taking pictures, I love making cards, I even consider cooking/baking crafting. Almost all day, that's what my mind is on...what projects I can create, what things I'd like to do for whatever holiday is coming up, whatever. And then I get home with all these great ideas and good intentions...and do nothing. It's not because I don't want to. It's because I get home and I'm so utterly exhausted that I can't really muster any creative energy. So...my realization is this: I need to do this full time, somehow. Whether it's actually profitable, or if it's in my spare time while staying at home, whatever. Then I could get my things done and actually live my life. I hope.

Not sure how all of this will happen, but that's my dream.

Back to the grind... :)

Tuesday, November 11

Ideas Floating Around

In my head. Making me very excited to work on some projects. And do I have time to go shopping tonight for the supplies?? NOPE. I'm going to Nebraska City to get my Nebraska driver's license, finally, so I can get my car plated in our new county tomorrow. Lovely.

So...in an attempt to hold myself accountable for these projects (and take pictures to share them when they're completed), I'm starting "The List". I'll probably add things to the list in future blogs, I'll title that section "The List." Perhaps I'll even figure out how to cross things off The List when I've completed them!

The List:
Advent calendars for Michael and Quintin & Audrianna (Thanksgiving gift)
Altered canvases for the stairwell/studio (and wherever else I can find to hang them)
Family wall hangings for around the house (and possibly Christmas gifts)
Paper Christmas trees for the next craft show/our house at Christmas

That's all for now. I can probably start on the wall hangings tonight, but I really want to get the advent calendar done first since it's the first occassion I have coming up.

Exciting livestock news: Mike's dad FINALLY found our calves. Take a guess at where they were....I'm waiting. Seriously, they were in Greenwood. Which is like...8 miles from our rented pasture. Are you kidding me?? Calves are fat and lazy. I wouldn't walk 8 miles just for the fun of it, why on earth would they???? I'm glad they're found though, and I think Mike will probably go move them on Wednesday to our house so we can actually say we live on a farm. :)

I think that's about it. Have a great day!

Thursday, November 6

Simple Joys

Silly me, I didn't have the forethought to take pictures of what I made last night for my craft show on Saturday. They're these cute gift tags (two sets, one wintery and one Christmasy), packaged in a tin hinged box with some coordinating ribbon. I like them :)

I'm super excited because Mike's mom had some broken tiles in her store and fished through them to give me the ones that were still whole. Mike will cut them tonight to make me raw 4x4 coasters that I can stamp on for the craft show. I wish I was this ambitious in making things BEFORE the week of the show :)

Since I don't have a card, I thought I'd share this picture of Michael, taken at the zoo when he was playing in some water. I love the look on his face! There's something so amazing about seeing a child just enjoy their surroundings. It's been an awfully long time since I was that happy about something so simple. So, I thought I'd reflect on simple things that make me that happy, as an adult.
1. Fall colors, especially leaves on trees. There is NOTHING that makes me happier, nature-wise. I can go from the worst to best mood in a heartbeat (and that actually happened last Friday). I walked in the house with the biggest smile on my face after seeing gorgeous fall trees. I'm hoping I can get back out to that spot this weekend to take pictures, before they freeze and fall off :(
2. Reading a crappy book. Sometimes I read some incredibly intelligent things. Most of the time, I read things about creativity that are really well written as well. But there is the occassional book that is just silly. It's a cheesy romance or whatever, but honestly, it's written like I would tell a story to one of my friends. And for me, it's okay to read a book like that, because it's more like a real part of my life than most of the intellectual stuff I read!
3. Seeing a great photograph of someone I love. I was in such a fantastic mood after seeing my cousin's wedding pictures. It makes me exceptionally happy to see professional pictures of Michael. I can't wait to see our wedding pictures.
4. Getting mail. Not bills or junk mail, but actual mail that was thought out and specifically sent to me. It's so nice that someone will take the time to hand-write on something, pay to attach a stamp, and put it in the mail, rather than just hurrying up and sending me an email.
Those are my four for now. I have no idea if anyone actually reads this, so if you do, leave me a comment with some of yours.
Have a great day!


Wednesday, November 5

Relief


I cannot tell you how happy I am that Obama won. This country is so ready for a change - I am so ready for a change. Granted, either candidate would have provided that, and I actually think McCain is a great man. I admired him quite a bit when I lived in AZ. I thought he did great things for the state and I know he would have been a strong leader. I just think our country is ready to go in a new direction, instead of down a parallel path. Okay, politics over :)
I wanted to quickly post a thank you card I sent off yesterday. This is one of my favorite cards, for some reason. I love the color combo (Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Ruby Red, and Whisper White), love the Pretty Peonies set, love the other set with the sentiment (and I just spent the last 30 minutes looking for the name - I have no idea what it's called all of a sudden).

I'm pretty proud of myself, actually posting things and sending them out. I'm one of those people who has good intentions and never quite follows through on card sending. I have a huge stash (partially for craft shows), but there's no way I can justify all that time spent and money spent without actually sending them (not that the sentiment isn't there, regardless of sending a card.)

Also wanted to post another picture. Molly, growing up :) She's going to be 6 months soon, I can't believe it. And, the famous big girl collar is on. She looks so grumpy in this picture for some reason, but she was really having a blast running around the yard with me while I took pictures. And she's getting much better about taking pictures. I tell her "Smile pretty!" and she sits or looks at me for a few seconds so if I'm on the ball, I can take her picture. Love that pooch.

Tuesday, November 4

My First Stamping Post

Maybe? I can't remember. Anywho...

Here it is. I wish I could give the deets, but this is the problem with blogging away from my studio. I CANNOT wait until it's all set up.

I know the base is a piece of 8.5"x5.5" Summer Sun (SU!) cardstock. The stamps for both the sentiment and the flower stem are from the SU! set Pretty Amazing (I think it's either retired or dormant). The flowers are from the Noteworthy line. The first layer is Taken with Teal, second is Old Olive, and both are dotted with black marker. I sponged Summer Sun ink around the Whisper White layer. I love how the flowers are from a different line but still match the SU! cardstock pretty well. I'm one of the obsessives who loves things to match.

Wish I could give better details/instructions, but I suppose this is better than nothing. :) I sent this card to Megan, our very talented engagement/wedding photographer, thanking her for taking our engagement pics and doing such a fantastic job. Mike and I really did have fun with the shoot (depsite us both hating having our picture taken) and we were very impressed with how the pictures turned out. Plus, she is so sweet, and we had a chance to meet her husband and talk with him as well. Great couple, can't wait to work with them!

Last night was a blur. I came home from work and let Molly out to play and promptly fell asleep. I was completely exhausted and knew I wouldn't make it. Driving home feeling like that wasn't good either. So...got up, made some dinner, and lounged on the couch with Mike. I had all these ambitions to unpack more or work on cards for my upcoming craft show, but sometimes I just need to rest. I really hope I'll be able to stick to my schedule this week for unpacking/crafting. So much to do for this weekend, so little time.
Go vote!! Have a great day :)

Monday, November 3

I should have made this a goal....



To blog on a more regular basis. It's funny...I read certain people's blogs everyday, and yet don't even think about updating mine. Granted, they have hundreds of people reading theirs and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who reads mine, but whatever :)

So, I'm big into goals. They usually don't happen, but I always set them. And being that I live about 2 months ahead of real time because I'm always thinking about what I have coming up...Christmas, wedding, etc..., I'm sort of in the New Year goal setting mode. So...here's my scratchy paper of goals. Not sure you can read them, and not really the point, but I thought if I publically posted my scratchings, maybe it would hold me more accountable. SO...if you talk with me, push me on these things, they really are important to me.


Last week we saw our engagement pictures and I love them! Meg is an awesome photographer. Mike and I had a really good time shooting them at the pumpkin patch and seeing them made this whole wedding gig A LOT more real. There's a couple I just love to pieces and can't wait to get my hands on them so I can show everyone. I think they're really Mike and me, if that makes sense. A little goofy, a little cheesy, but definitely fun.


And after seeing them, I was totally inspired to look at some of my own pictures. I also found this amazing blog of a local photographer on a national site, and I can't believe I'd never heard of her before now. I'm sure she's a bit spendy, but someday, I would LOVE to have her take pictures of our family. Anyway, I was out playing with Molly last week and had my camera because I wanted to take pictures of her big girl collar, when I looked up and saw our amazing sunset. I'd seen it before, but it never stops being gorgeous. I spent more time snapping pictures of the sunset than I did of Molly - although I managed to get a couple good ones of her too :)


So, I'll just upload a bunch of photos that I found when I was looking through my camera. Seeing my life through my lens makes me realize even more how blessed I am.

This is Mike and Michael, pointing at a monkey at the zoo. We took all 3 kids this summer, and it was so cool to see those two together. I know Mike is great with his niece and nephew, but it was awesome to see him bond with my nephew too.



To the left is the three kids looking at something behind the glass. I love the lighting of this picture though, and their three little heads. Especially Quintin and Michael, looking up, hands pressed on the glass. SO cute!







And my beloved sunset photos. These are from all over the property. I'm standing there, snapping pictures, thinking how lucky we are to have a house and land, and then it hits me like a ton of bricks - THIS is God. This is tangible (well, sorta) proof that He exists. Not that I doubted, but if someone were to aks me how I know, I can point at these pictures and say this is how. How can anyone wonder after seeing something like this?



So, that's the news, I guess. Craft show this weekend at Bellevue East. Come visit! Other than that, lots of unpacking to look forward to this week. Hopefully all will be in order at least on the main level in time for a family dinner on Saturday night.


Have an fantabulous fall week!!